Book Review: The Resting Place by Camilla Sten

 GOODREADS SUMMARY: 

Eleanor lives with prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize a familiar person's face. It causes stress. Acute anxiety. 

It can make you question what you think you know.

When Eleanor walked in on the scene of her capriciously cruel grandmother, Vivianne’s, murder, she came face to face with the killer - a maddening expression that means nothing to someone like her. With each passing day, the horror of having come so close to a murderer - and not knowing if they’d be back - overtakes both her dreams and her waking moments, thwarting her perception of reality.

Then a lawyer calls. Vivianne has left her a house - a looming estate tucked away in the Swedish woods. The place her grandfather died, suddenly. A place that has housed a chilling past for over fifty years.

Eleanor. Her steadfast boyfriend, Sebastian. Her reckless aunt, Veronika. The lawyer. All will go to this house of secrets, looking for answers. But as they get closer to uncovering the truth, they’ll wish they had never come to disturb what rests there.

TEE’S THOUGHTS: 

I really enjoyed Sten’s previous book The Lost Village, especially the chapters written in the past, so I was excited to get an early listen to her newest book The Resting Place, which will be released March 29th.

I had never heard of prosopagnosia, or face blindness which is the inability to recognize a familiar persons face , so the concept that the main character Eleanor having this condition fascinated me , especially that in the story she witnesses the murderer who is killing her grandmother face to face. 

Like The Lost Village the chapters of The Resting Place alternate between present and past, with Eleanor giving the reader her POV in the present and Annushka ‘s POV from 1965.

The story was suspenseful, gripping and at times creepy. I especially like the feel of the Swedish woodlands that the story took place in. Imagine a snowy, cold, desolate and dark forest and of course the creepy family home that Eleanor inherited from her grandmother. 

As the story unfolds secrets will be uncovered by both Eleanor and the reader about the family and the houses past- along with some good twists. 

If you are a lover of Swedish Noir or are wanting to give it a try, pick up The Resting  Place, it is a great quick read that will keep your attention from the beginning . 

I listened to The Resting Place and really enjoyed the narration by Angela Dawe, who had a clear reading voice that made listening both easy and pleasant .